


Long Night

by StormXPadme



Series: "Tales Untold" & "Tales Beyond": (Don't) Need-to-know [11]
Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Birds, Bonus Scene, Depression, F/M, Harm to Children, Healers, Healing, Houses of Healing, Minas Tirith, Sailing To Valinor, Third Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28979070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormXPadme/pseuds/StormXPadme
Summary: Self-chosen loneliness does not hurt any less.***This oneshot is a bonus scene of my "Tales Untold" main verse (taking place within "Of hopes and broken dreams"), written for an amazing fanart of my main original elf character that my dear friend rymu did for me.
Relationships: Legolas Greenleaf/Original Female Elf Character(s)
Series: "Tales Untold" & "Tales Beyond": (Don't) Need-to-know [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125545
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Long Night

**Author's Note:**

> The amazing fanart of Tarisilya below was done by my dear friend rymu. Please give her some love on her tumblr (https://rymu.tumblr.com/) or deviantart (https://www.deviantart.com/rymu92). The following is a little bonus scene I wrote for this gorgeous image. It happens at the end of chapter 12 of "Of hopes and broken dreams" (#6). Thank you once more for this wonderful gift, hun. This is the most stunning fanart anyone ever did for me, and I will love it forever <3.

_It doesn’t really matter now you’re gone. You never were around that much to speak of._  
The last thing she’d told him before returning to the capital was still heavy on her heart when her work in the Houses of Healing was done for the day and she sought solitude in the facility’s gardens; shelter from the looks of her new mannish mates, some still skeptical, most of them curious. Some pitiful, as if it was not by her own choice that her husband’s path was not her own for the time being, so shortly after giving each other their eternal promise.  
She didn’t feel like explaining, and she was done apologizing for the moment. The consequences of this last, so very unexpected loss was something she would have to deal with on her own and nothing, any of her new mannish acquaintances could have helped with.  
Once the dust had settled, she would probably send out a message to Imladris, though just the thought of eating that particular kind of crow had her stomach clench.

A disapproving frown paired with a silently mouthed „I told you so, Child of the Moon“ by Lord Elrond was the last thing she needed right now. But the Lord, at least, might be able to help, seeing as she obviously couldn’t ask her father for advice about their mutual art any longer.

The old, well-known sting of regret and yearning pierced her heart and had her turn away from the bright shine of a full moon in the sky once she had climbed the next best tree, the walls of distance and rationalism once more thick around her soul, shutting out the light that had given her strength and focus for the first 1,000 years of her life. Tilion had failed her in Rohan and was screaming the pain of parting from her family from the sky every night; he did not deserve her devotion any longer.  
His stubborn brightness was still reflected in the new glistening on her wrist and ankle when she lowered her eyes, trying to catch her breath and her thoughts, trying to find at least enough serenity for a few hours of rest. Instead, the no new vivid reminder of her good-bye from her husband earlier struck her to the core, and she wiped her eyes in agitation.  
The delicate jewels were enchanting, the intertwined leaves telling the story of the woods that her partner had grown up in, the feather-light silver speaking of talent and love for the fine craft that Legolas had inherited from his father; but her words of gratitude earlier had sounded as hollow as the rest of their fleeting, hectic good-bye.

Legolas meant well, but not enough time had passed yet to forget that his other, his first begetting day gift for her had been one of blood, of violence.

A weapon that she never wanted to use and still might have to one day, especially being on her own in a strange place, possibly filled with enemies of the crown both of Men and of the family’s she’d married into.  
It wasn’t her husband’s fault where they’d ended up suddenly; it was a result of both their mistakes of these last few months, and for the moment, she could forgive neither him nor herself.  
The change of location didn’t help half as much as hoped, in her mind, it just wouldn’t become quiet. Maybe it was better to go back and see if she could be of any more use with the patients currently needing care in the Houses. Sleep was helplessly overrated anyway.  
Slight dizziness before her eyes reminded her that she hadn’t been eating since the morning when her husband had left together with the King to search for Arwen and that she’d come here to change that, at least; mostly to get Ioreth and her constant fussing off her back.

As she opened her fist with the handful of berries she’d brought though, a grey-winged shadow landed on her fingertips, a shy, hopeful tweet reached her ears. Well, so much for a midnight snack.

“Go on, little one. You look like you need them more.” With a small smile on her lips that she wasn’t even quite aware of herself, Tarisilya watched the bird feed on the offered goods. She remembered seeing a few of its kind near Cair Andros earlier and wondered for a moment if they could be trained. Once the turmoil of the kidnapping and the fire had settled for good, maybe she would finally be able to find the right words to tell her husband, and it was unlikely they would communicate in another way than with letters anytime soon.  
But that would be one of the many tasks waiting for her once the sun had gone up.  
At least for a few moments, the night was peaceful.


End file.
